Italy Senate "Ungovernable"; No Coalition Possible

La Republica confirms what we long thought highly likely: The Italian Senate is Ungovernable. A Senate majority takes 158 seats and no party has more than 123 at the moment. The current results look like this: Senate Seat Projections Bersani 104 Berlusconi 123 Grillo 57 Monti 17 There are 315 total seats and the total above is only 301. Although 14 seats remain, not even a Monti-Bersani coalition in addition to those 14 seats would bring Bersani's total to 158. Curiously, it appears Bersani received a plurality of the Senate popular vote with 32% compared to Berlusconi's 30.2%. Grillo weighs in with 23.9%, and Monti at 9.1%. If 123-104 in favor of  Berlusconi over Bersani sounds strange, it is not unlike a presidential election in the US where one candidate wins the popular vote and another candidate wins the election based on  state-by-state electoral votes. Chamber Comparison to US In Italy, both houses of parliament share duties equally. In the US, financial bills originate in the House, and only the Senate has a say in approval of judges and cabinet-level positions. "AC" writes ..."Most likely Italy will go back to vote within a couple of months, probably after changing the electoral law." Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com  Mike "Mish" Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.